Not Home for the Holidays
by Teefa and Co
Summary: Teefa's annual holiday special. The Council of Seven tries to hold a holiday party, after getting stranded at the lab during the Guardian Festival. And who told Malik and Melody they could bake?
1. The Discovery

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The Discovery

"Just another day," muttered Werner Maxwell as he entered the Leyline Observatory one chilly morning in late December, "Another humdrum day at work. Now then, where did I leave off yesterday? Oh yes, Leehalt started with me over the examination of the Filgaian energy we'd collected, he didn't believe it contained any supreme powers when cut off from the Guardians. Melody wasn't any help, she had to put on another coat of blush. You know, I wish I could trade places with Elliot, his problems are just a drop in the bucket compared to mine. Even though Malik is always doing his own research on reviving the dead, he does get his work done. And Pete is serious about his job. My team just argues and looks pretty."

He was a man of about thirty two, with short brown hair and vibrant blue eyes. The father of a five year old girl, Werner wanted to make the world a better place for his family. Ironically, he'd met his wife while on the job, when he was studying Leylines near Little Rock. His childhood rival, Leehalt Alchest, was also a member of the team, studying the same science just to get a better job than Werner. Imagine their surprise when they received the same commission. But even though he had many problems with said rival, he had a close friend named Elliot Enduro. They'd met after Werner took the job and were almost brothers. 

As he entered the hallway, a small figure ran out at him. It was Elliot's twelve year old son, Jet. The boy, like his father, had silver hair and violet eyes. His mother had died when he was born, so he never met her, but Jet didn't complain. Well, unless Leehalt started with him, the boy's hatred of the man was well known. It came mostly from Leehalt's meaningless grudges against Elliot and Werner, whom Jet thought of as an uncle. For years, Leehalt had let his disdain of the child be well known, everyone said it was mostly jealousy since he didn't have a family. But Jet wasn't below fighting back if needed be.

"Uncle Werner, good morning. Dad told me to give you a message. There's going to be a meeting in the secret room, something to do with that project that you guys are working on. He's going on ahead, but wants you to meet him there. Oh, and Leehalt is in a bad mood, so avoid him like the plague," he said.

Werner thanked the boy and headed off to the secret room. That was where they kept all of their most valuable experiments, such as the energy of Filgaia, as well as irreplaceable research books. After tapping on the wall in a third floor room in just the right place, Werner walked inside. This room beyond the door was the specimen room, for the storage of the monsters they were studying, as well as the previously mentioned energy. It also held some of the books. But down a corridor was another room, which not only held more books but was also the Council of Seven's meeting room. Everyone was there, waiting for him.

Melody Vilente, a purple haired woman with blue eyes of twenty seven years, was sitting in the corner of the room, applying her eyeliner. For what, Werner didn't know. Certainly, he didn't think she would have any need for it while they were on the job. But Melody was the most vain woman he could think of, so it wasn't too surprising. After all, this was how she acted when she was supposed to be working too.

Her foil was twenty five year old Malik Bendict. He was a man with short blond hair and blue eyes who was into the art of necromancy. Technically, it meant black magic that predicted the future by talking with the dead. However, he was into the prediction part of it much less and the dead part much more.

Pete Inkapilia, a thirty eight year old Baskar with dark black hair and brown eyes was the only one who appeared to be paying any attention to the doorway. He was extremely neutral in the conflicts that raged on between Melody and Malik, or Leehalt with Werner and/or Elliot and/or Jet. The only thing he did was to tell whomever started it to stop acting like they were two years old and get back to work. Which, I might add, was usually either Leehalt or Melody. They had hair trigger tempers that always went off.

Duran Bryant, the thirty five year old mechanic, was supposed to be conducting the meeting the second Werner came in. I say supposed, because he was currently reading the Winter Wonderland issue of Sexy Drifters, his favorite pornographic magazine. It showed Drifter women in sweaters that were so low cut that they totally defeated the purpose of wearing one, as well as some naked women playing in snow, modeling scarves. His blue eyes never left the pages, enthralled by the images they saw, and his black hair looked freshly combed, as if he expected to go on a date with them. He was a little crazy if you ask me.

Werner sat down next to Elliot. He was relieved to see that his friend had gotten them seats as far away from Leehalt as possible. The thirty three year old man looked over at his rival, his scowling brown eyes never leaving him as he sat down. What he didn't see, however, was that someone had stuck a wad of gum in Leehalt's long, black hair. But from the way Elliot was pointing, Werner knew it had to be one of the Enduros. Silent revenge was one of Elliot's favorite tactics, and Jet liked to do the same thing as his dad.

Leehalt yelled, "DURAN!!!! Maxwell is here so can we begin? Look at those disgusting magazines on your own time. I swear, you waste more time here than Malik and Melody combined." That earned him hard and angry stares from the aforementioned scientists, and giggles from both Elliot and Werner.

Elliot looked at his friend. "Look whose talking, who begins arguing for no reason when on the job? At least half of Malik and Melody's fighting is done off work, since they're on two different teams. But he starts with you every day, for no apparent reason, if only to annoy you or mess up what you're working on."

"Oh, zorry. I got a little carried away," Duran replied, putting his magazine behind him, "Vell, az I vaz zaying, ziz iz an important experiment, one that might just finish our job. But, ve have got to ztay here for avile, at leazt until after ze Vestival of ze Guardians is over. Zere iz no vay ve can leave ziz unattended, and zoze vho are ztuck here vill be jealous over the onz vho can go. Zo, ve all ztay and get ziz done, it vill be finished much faster if ze vhole team iz here." The announcement done, he turned back to his porno.

"Hey! Duran, can't we wait until the holidays are over? There are so many parties out there that I can go to in order to show off my perfect beauty," Melody commented, looking steamed over his words.

Pete told her, "I also checked out the containment, it seems that if we do not watch over the creature that we are studying constantly, it might break out of the capsule and wreck the lab. But, if we finish all of the experiments, we can let it go and then visit our families to exchange presents and whatnot."

Werner looked at Melody. "If our mechanic says that the machines won't hold him, then they won't hold him. It is safer for all of us. What if it gets out while we're all gone to visit our families? The creature might ambush us upon our return, and then we could all die. However, by keeping constant vigil, we won't have a problem." He was trying to be strong, he would be spending the Festival of the Guardians without his wife and child. This was the first time ever. Virginia would have to be strong since Daddy wouldn't be home.

* * *

Sometime later, during his break, Werner was writing a letter to his wife, Ekatrina, to tell her of the new development. He informed her where he'd hidden the presents that he'd brought, so she could put them out on the Festival Morning in order to make it look like Santa had come. It was an old tradition, then the children opened presents in the morning. The adults also exchanged presents, and children gave them too.

"Well, well, well, Werner is in here all alone," mocked Leehalt, "What, pray tell are you doing here?"

"Writing a letter home, to tell them that I won't be able to come back for the holidays. I don't want my family to worry about me, my sister-in-law tends to jump to conclusions if I come home late," Werner stated. He hoped to avoid this conversation, for he knew what fodder Leehalt had come to look for.

Leehalt stated, "You're pathetic, Maxwell. Can't even spend the holidays with your wife and brat. Now then, if I had married Ekatrina, she wouldn't be left alone. I'd bring her to share the Festival with me."  


Werner looked at him like he was insane. "With that monster in here?! If it breaks out, it puts both Ekatrina and Virginia in danger. Heck, we're in danger if it breaks out. I'd pick their safety over my own happiness. Ekatrina'll understand, I'm worried about her. You only think about yourself, that's why she didn't love you like you loved her!" Werner was very defensive over his family, due to the old love triangle.

"How dare you!" Leehalt yelled back, "I care about Ekatrina very much. Your brat no, but then again if I had a child with Ekatrina then I'd care about it. If you care about someone, you always stay with them."  


"Safety comes first. Elliot's even sending Jet to stay with Grandma Enduro just so he isn't involved in this mess. I'm sure she can take care of the boy for a week, and if she can't he's given her my address. Ekatrina, Tesla, and Shalte can surely watch over one more if Elliot's mom's arthritis is too bad to take care of her grandson. And you know Elliot never sends Jet out of the lab without him," Werner informed him.

Before this escalated into anything more, in came Elliot himself. Seeing the odds were now two to one, Leehalt left. He knew Elliot would intervene on Werner's side, he always did. Elliot asked, "What was that about? Leehalt just being Leehalt? Or was his visit just another one of his false attempts at peace?"  


Werner leaned back in his chair. "Just wanted to say I'm pathetic for not spending the holidays with Ekatrina. Oh yeah, I would, if I didn't mind her dying should that beast escape captivity. I told Duran it was a bad idea to study a Silver Tiger, but he didn't listen to me. Now we're all going to have a lonely holiday."  


"Werner, that's it!" exclaimed Elliot, "We're going to have to change our situation in order to not have a lonely holiday. How about the whole council has a party? We can have food, and drinks, I have some wine stocked away. And we can bake cookies. Decorations, I have some left over in my quarters."

"I like that idea. Maybe we can have a fun holiday after all. Let's plan this out though before we start, you never know when something will go wrong. We have to figure out what needs to be done, and who needs to do it," Werner replied. He then walked away to go back to work, but carried his clipboard anyway.

* * *

That afternoon, the others found a sign up sheet near the secret room. It asked for them to volunteer for one of the categories: Decorating, Baking, or Supply Gathering. The final group had to cut down a tree, as well as buy the supplies after inventory had been taken. Being the one with the Teleport Orb, Werner volunteered for that one. Elliot came with him, so he could drop Jet off at his grandmother's, and so did Pete. That left Duran and Leehalt on Decorating, and Malik and Melody in Baking. Against better judgment, Werner and Elliot decided to leave it at that. After all, how much could go wrong if the two of them baked? And no one thought Duran could make a mess out of decorating an entire lab for a party.

But remember, these are not just any scientists. These are some of the loopiest men out there, with perhaps the worlds biggest wacko among the female gender. What didn't seem like trouble, would turn out to be. Elliot and Werner would wish they'd used their better judgment when it was open to them.

- - - -

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Teefa's Last Words…

My second annual holiday special. This time, I'll write a few chapters, it seemed much more fun. You know where I go the idea? Well, I was watching "A Muppet Family Christmas" with my family, it's a tradition to do so after putting up our tree. I thought about holidays, and family togetherness, had some warm and fuzzy Jet and Virginia thoughts (imagine what would happen when he fist celebrated the holidays at her insistence), which led me to think about what it would be like if one was away from their loved ones on Christmas. Since this is Filgaia, I created a made up Christmas-like holiday, due to different religious beliefs.


	2. Tasks

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Tasks

"Father, why do I have to stay at Grandma's by myself?" inquired Jet, "I know you have an important experiment to work on, but can't I stay with you? I've never been away from you on the holidays before."

"Jet, you know I don't want to leave you alone. But Duran's latest brainstorm monster experiment is getting too eager to break out. If it does, your life is in danger. I won't let that happen. Listen, if something happens to your grandmother, and she can't take care of you, go to Uncle Werner's house. His wife, bro, and sister-in-law can care for you in case of an emergency," Elliot stated as he rang the bell at his mom's.

An elderly woman with thick glasses over her violet eyes answered the door. She stated, "Elliot, it's so good to see you. But you're early. Is there some problem at work that you needed to get out of there? And who are your friends, be a doll and introduce them to me, son." There was a twinkling in her eye that put people at ease, Werner noticed. She had on a pure white apron over her peach dress, and slippers on her feet. From the looks of things, she was baking her annual Festival cookies. Elliot always loved them.

Noticing his mother's look, Elliot told her the story. "So, I don't feel safe if the beast is getting like that, and want Jet to be as far away as possible. Now that he's twelve, he shouldn't be able to get into too much trouble. But if you are in no condition to take care of him, he knows the address of a place he can go. I just didn't want him to miss spending the Festival with his grandmother, since I'm already out of it now."

"I'm sure Jet will be no trouble at all," Grandma Enduro told her son, "Besides, he can help me to bake cookies. I'll send a parcel with you for the others on the Council. I know they all will just love them, so I'll give you a big batch. Then you can take some of the extras home with you when you come to pick up Jet. There's no reason you should be left out of my holiday, just because you can't be here in person."

"Thank's ma," replied Elliot. He then found himself loaded down with three heavy parcels filled with her best cookies. Werner and Pete each took one, and then it was on to look for a tree. Since this is some time before Yggdrasil's energy was released, even that area was only sparingly filled with trees. But there were some more scattered throughout Filgaia. That said, they wouldn't have to look too far. Elliot did say, however, that they should return to drop off the cookies in his room, to free up their hands. Now, they would have plenty, especially after Melody and Malik finished their own baking for the Council's holiday party.

* * *

Speaking of Melody and Malik, they were currently in Leyline Observatory's kitchen, trying to bake cookies. We say "trying", because Melody knew nothing of baking and Malik was demanding they make some recipes of his mother's that he could only vaguely remember. So the directions were a little bit off.

Melody asked, "Are you sure that the batter is supposed to look like some waste products from various experiments?" She motioned to the green, bubbling pot that was on the table. It was filled to the brim with what Malik had called "sugar cookie dough". That said, you can tell it didn't appear appetizing.

Malik looked at her. "Don't you question Mama's recipe. She always made the best cookies on the holidays. It tastes a lot better than it looks." He threw in about a pound of sugar, and a half pound of flour. They hit the batter with a plop, causing it to bubble over. But after Malik stirred, it began to thicken. He rolled out the dough, after Melody refused on account of the fear of breaking a nail while moving the pin around. Heaven knows why she had decided to sign up for the baking group, since she did nothing at all.

"Ok, now that the dough is rolled out, we cut shapes," Malik stated, "Let's see, hearts are for Valentine's Day, but here are evergreen trees. And some animal shapes. These ought to do." He handed a dog cookie cutter to Melody, who reluctantly helped to slice away the dough. Malik had picked up a bird as his first cookie. Once they'd finished with the dough, Malik rolled the scraps back up to make more cookies out of them. But after they had no more room for even the littlest cookie on scraps, he tossed the dough.

Then, it was time to bake. While Malik dreamed of eating his mom's special recipe, Melody just did her hair. The net she'd worn in order to keep it out of the dough - - not to protect the cookies, but to stop her hair from becoming dirty - - was tossed in the garbage. Then, she went in the bathroom to fix up what tangles and dirt she did accumulate. By the time she returned, the cookies were finished, and cooled.

"You're just in time to taste test. Honestly Melody, next time you should have a little more faith in me. They look just fine, and will taste as good as Mama's," Malik informed her. Indeed, the cookies looked fine, except they were a puke green color. Malik picked up a Festival Tree, and handed Melody a horse.

They both took a bite, Melody's more cautious than Malik. And in unison, they spit it out. Melody ran back to the bathroom, in order to wash out her mouth. When Werner walked by on the way to drop off Grandma Enduro's cookies, he heard her guzzling down about two cups of Listerine. That couldn't be a good sign in his mind. But he figured it had something to do with her and Malik arguing, not the cookies.

Meanwhile, Malik was leaning over the kitchen sink, after hurling all over the floor. He asked himself, "Why, what went wrong? I followed your recipe perfectly Mama, so why didn't they come out all right?" If he'd only looked closer at what he was doing, they'd have been ok. But some of the amounts had been blurred, leaving them unreadable or easily mistaken for others; teaspoons and tablespoons are a notable example here. And his attempt at turning them green for the Festival was ruined because he used the dye instead of the food coloring. Duran had left them next to one another without the labels on.

* * *

While Malik lay over the sink and Melody was guzzling her Listerine, Duran and Leehalt were planning the decorations. Leehalt only chose that because he didn't want to deal with Werner or Malik, who had been the first to sign up for cooking. However, he thought Pete would help decorating instead of going with Werner and Elliot to find the tree. Duran was still carrying around "Winter Wonderland", and looking with rapture in his eyes at the female models. Leehalt scoffed, they needed to get to work right now and he was doing this. So he snatched the magazine out of Duran's hands and ripped it right down the middle.

Duran yelled, "Vat did you do zat for? I vas reading zis. Get your ovn if you vant to rip it." Then, he revealed his ace in the hole. Duran always kept about three copies of every issue around. The first was to read, the second to store in his collection of porn, and the third was a backup should something happen to either one of those. He opened the cover, and began reading again. Then, he ripped out a page of a naked woman taking off her scarf in order to place it on the snowman she had been building. It also had on a sweater, perhaps taken off the model as well. Duran hung the sexy picture on the wall in the secret room.

Leehalt looked angry. "This is no time to be goofing around! Of all people I could get stuck with, it had to be you. I'm starting to think it would have been easier if I'd just gone with Werner's group in the first place. At least Maxwell gets his work done, even if he is a woman stealing, glory hogging, big oaf."

"I am not vasting time," Duran said, "If you look at ze vall, zere iz now decorationz. Ve vill be able to go through all of my extra magazines and get the best pictures out of zem. Zen, ve vill have a great party."  


Leehalt rolled his eyes, thinking about how Duran would be the only one to think like that. He was in no mood to argue for once, rather he wanted to see the others' reactions. Maybe it would be just enough for Ekatrina to divorce Werner and marry him. He returned to his own quarters to think up a plan of action.

* * *

"Timber!" called Werner as the tree fell to the ground. He, Elliot, and Pete then loaded it onto the back of the rented carriage. They were to take it back to the Observatory, and then return the horses to Little Rock. Ekatrina's miner father, Edwin Roughnight, had leant it to them using his connections. In looking for the tree, they had as much difficulty that was to be expected. But there were one or two trees dotting the area between Little Rock and Leyline Observatory. So they did get something in the very end.

Elliot told the others, "Now we can go home. I hope everything is ready, the party is tomorrow. We'd better not put out Ma's cookies right away, who knows how much Melody and Malik made." He didn't have any thought on the two of them botching up a job as simple as baking cookies for a Council party.

After they'd returned, they left the tree with Duran so he and Leehalt would decorate it. The three also didn't know that Leehalt had walked out on the decorating in order to begin the groundwork on his new and devious plan. Just because the three of them took the holidays and the party seriously didn't mean that their - - mostly insane - - contemporaries were also going to get their jobs done without a single hitch in it.

Later on, Werner and Elliot were in Werner's quarters, having a small glass of wine. Even Werner, who didn't drink at all, was willing to have this. It was a fruit wine that Elliot had gotten as a present from his mother last month. The sweet taste of cranberries had overwhelmed the bitter one of alcohol. Thus, he would drink it. After their glasses were filled, the two friends toasted one another, and drank to the season.

Werner looked at his friend. "Thanks, this has made me feel better. After I realized that I wouldn't be with my family, I was upset. But through my friends, I've been able to fell much better. This is going to be the best party I ever went to. Well, excluding the one that Ekatrina and I attended where I proposed." He was talking about the annual Little Rock Festival Social. She'd asked him to come with her, and Werner decided to get up the nerve to tell his true feelings that night. But nothing could ever top the bond he had with the woman he loved, or his only child. Friends were forever, but family was an eternal commitment.

"Yeah, I feel better about not being with Jet," Elliot stated, "We leaned on each other for support in this time, and we received it. So, how about another toast. This one to the families we are without."

They toasted to Ekatrina, Virginia, Tesla, Shalte, Jet, and Grandma Enduro. Then, the next drinks of wine went down. The two men spoke for about an hour more, speculating on the day. How did Duran and Leehalt decorate the room? What kind of cookies did Melody and Malik make? It almost made them want to zip ahead to the next day, just to answer their questions. Although, after they finally would have seen them, who knows if they would wish to go back in time to make sure the groups were more compatible.

- - - -

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Sky's Corner

Teefa deserted me to do this chapter. Said something about dealing with Demons. Well don't ask about the porn, she's got this obsession with Duran being a pervert due to his diary entry on Beatrice.


	3. Party Time

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Party Time

The next day was the Festival of the Guardians. Werner and Elliot walked together to the secret room, where the party was to be held. When they arrived, both men became wide eyed. Everywhere, on the walls, the table, and even the tree, were pictures from Duran's porno collection. The cookies, although shaped and sized correctly seemed to be colored in puke green. And there was the worst looking drink in the center of the table. It seemed to be punch, if you made it in green and threw a whole cactus inside.

"This is weird," Elliot stated, "I mean, I love cactus juice as much as the next person, but it is not an ingredient in punch. I wonder though, did Malik bother to make it with alcohol?" He walked over, and took a drink. With his sensitive tongue, Elliot deduced that nothing of the sort had been added. But there was a fair amount of mint ice cream mixed in with the cactus juice. It was so putrid, that Elliot spit it right out.

Werner went over to try a cookie. Afterwards, he figured out why Melody was guzzling Listerine the day before. Those things were just too horrid to describe in words. Figuring the drink wasn't any worse, he washed the taste of cookie out of his mouth. Which only made him want to run right to the bathroom and follow his female comrade's example. The man did just that, and returned almost immediately to the room.

"Those two don't know the first thing about cooking. Duran doesn't know the first thing about what decorations to use for the holidays. And Leehalt probably did nothing to stop him either. Or he gave up trying to get Duran to listen to reason. Raftina this is a disaster," muttered Pete as he walked into the room. He spied the decorations, as well as Werner and Elliot half messed up over the taste of the food.

Suddenly, a camera went off. There in the door was Leehalt. He had taken one of Werner, hoping that putting him in a room filled with pornographic pictures. Werner, in an extremely frustrated voice, asked, "Leehalt, what is going on? Weren't you helping Duran with the decorations? So why is it like this? I would assume you to be the voice of reason in that group, seeing as you always chide Duran on his obsessions."

Leehalt stared down his rival, and laughed. "Don't you see? Now you are on camera in a room of nude women. All I have to do is show this picture to Ekatrina, and she will leave you. Then, I can marry her. Oh, and hopefully you'll take the brat, I certainly don't need the stress of raising your offspring."  


"That is the dumbest theory I ever heard," Elliot retorted, "First of all, I'd think Ekatrina wouldn't be so shallow as to leave Werner without him giving a chance to explain. Second, Duran was the one who did this, so he could always just tell the truth about holiday decorations. She knows he's a pervert, since he hit on her about ten times between when she and Werner first went out and the day they got married. Third, well you're the biggest moron in the history of the world." Ok, so that wasn't a very mature example, but this war between the three men always reached childish levels. Werner not so much as Elliot and Leehalt.

"Oh, I like ze decorationz. Zey reflect ze perfect human body. Bezidez, zey vere ze only holiday decorationz I had lying around," explained Duran as he entered the room. He saw Leehalt with the camera, and knew the man had reached an all time low. Duran may have crushed on many a girl in the past, but he always let them be once he knew that it was impossible. That's why he never hit on Ekatrina after she and Werner got married. He knew she was off the playing field and it would be better to just find someone else.

Suddenly, Malik and Melody ran into the room in a panic. The female scientist exclaimed, "There's a problem! The Silver Tiger has broken out of the cylinder, and is wreaking havoc on the laboratory! If this keeps up, all of my makeup will be ruined! So stop it right away!" She sounded upset, as if you couldn't buy makeup in one of the many stores on Filgaia. But remember, this is Melody we're talking about here.

Werner and Elliot ran into the other room. There, they saw the beast trying to escape via the secret door. Grabbing his Duel Pistols, Werner fired off two shots. Elliot then used his Submachine Gun in order to hit it again. But the monster didn't die from that. Instead, it charged the two men, ran past, and into the party room. Panicking over the others in danger, both of the scientists ran for the room at their top speed.

Inside, Leehalt threw the entire punch bowl at the Silver Tiger, mad after it destroyed the camera with the incriminating evidence against Werner on it. Although it didn't kill the beast, he did succeed in getting rid of the awful Mint Chocolate Covered Cactus Punch. Malik began freaking out. "Hey! I worked all day making that! You know how hard it is to think of a good punch when we ran out of fruit just last week."

"Well, then tell Maxwell to buy you some more," demanded Leehalt, "He's the errand boy since he has that Teleport Orb. Besides, it was either him or us, and you don't want it to be us. So stop acting like the Mama's Boy you always are and fight!" His temper over the loss of his plan was flaring up considerably. Also, he was mad that Werner and Elliot had "run off and left the others to deal with the problem right here."

"How dare you insult Mama! Next time you say something like that, I will personally beat you up for saying such mean things about her!" Malik yelled back. It was almost as childish an argument as one of the daily Leehalt and Werner and/or Elliot and/or Jet fights. Sadly, only Jet had the right to be childish.

At that minute, Elliot and Werner returned. They got the Silver Tiger's attention by firing at it once more. But that wasn't enough to stop the monster, and it charged. All three ARMs were knocked from the hands of their users, landing just far enough away so they couldn't retrieve them. Then, the beast began to howl like a victorious animal, and move in closer to the two men. It raised its paw, ready for the kill.

Suddenly, a beam of energy shot through the room, and sliced the monster straight through the heart. When they talked about it later, the seven all agreed that it was a beam of light. Pete said it was close to the Arcana spell Specter, but something about it was different. He couldn't tell them what though, only that it could very well be from a long forgotten tribe loyal to the Guardians. The Baskar informed them of a sister tribe to the his own that died out during the last Demon Invasion of a millennia ago. However, no one knew if anyone of that tribe survived to carry on the blood. And no one there saw who the caster was.

But in the shadows of the door, was a woman with long blond hair and green eyes. She wore a red dress, and her right hand was outstretched as if she'd cast a spell. Her left hand held a board with runes for the casting of such spells inscripted on it. Next to her was a small child of about five that bore resemblance to Werner. The little girl wore a white blouse and orchid skirt, with a yellow headband in her long hair. She looked up to the woman, and asked, "Mommy, is that how real magic looks? Did we do good here? Will Daddy and the others be safe now? I hope so, I don't want him to never come back home after this."  


Her mother smiled, and picked the child up in her arms. "It will be ok Virginia. I could never allow something to happen to Werner, he's the most important adult in my life. Even if it means I must fight, I so hate to get violent. And I hate to kill other living beings, be they men or beast. Remember Ginny, meaningless violence solves nothing, but sometimes you need to fight in order to protect those you love. So, wasn't that a nice surprise, going to see Daddy on the Festival? And you received your first lesson on your new Crestboard. But now that the monster is dead, we have to go. After all, it will do us no good to be seen as witches and killed." The woman, now confirmed as Werner's beloved Ekatrina, walked away with Virginia still in her arms. But she did take one look back, and smiled at the man she loved the most.

Back in the other room, the team took inventory. Leehalt, as stated before, had broken the punch bowl and spilt all of the Mint Chocolate Covered Cactus Punch. The decorations were all ripped down by either the Silver Tiger, or a stray shot from the three ARMs that had gone off after they'd hit the ground. All of the cookies were strewn about and dirty - - both Werner and Melody stated that nobody missed much on that one. Finally, the Festival Tree had fallen over the side, and got tangled in the machinery that lay below.

"This is a disaster!" exclaimed Elliot, "All I wanted was to have a nice celebration with everyone, so we can make up for not being able to go home. What did Werner and I get? Inedible food and drink, porno on the walls and tree, and a monster destroying what we would have been able to salvage somehow."

"Elliot! Don't despair just yet. Remember, we still have the cookies that your mother baked and gave to us when we dropped off Jet. And you have about five casks filled with that sangria you got for your birthday. We can still make the most of this day, and get off early enough to see our friends and families. After all, with the tiger dead there's no more need for us to stay here to watch over it. It's not like a slain beast can get up and walk away, we can study its genetic makeup when we come back," Werner stated.

So they returned to Elliot's room, and got the necessary food and drink. Then, the team toasted to another years work of studying how to rejuvenate the planet. Finally, it was time to exchange gifts. Elliot got six different types of wine, Melody got assorted cosmetics, and Duran received six porno magazines that he had never heard of. Malik was given some hair gel, a new scarf, a book of necromancy - - from the ever observant Pete - - a winter hat, some cactus juice, and a porno - - guess who sent that. Pete found himself stuck with six varieties of cactus, while Leehalt ended up with wacko things from a punk store - - a joke Elliot and Jet had arranged some months back. Werner was happy for the most part. He had been given a nice photo frame from Elliot - - to put a picture of his family in - - along with a new floppy hat and coat set, expensive pens, a book of tips on how to make your wife beautiful - - from Melody, but he tossed it before returning home least Ekatrina see that - - a dirty magazine - - from Duran which followed Melody's gift into the dumpster - - and nothing - - give ya three guesses as to who that was from, first two don't count.

When the last crumb had been eaten and the last drop of wine drunk, Werner and Elliot left the lab together. The latter was dropped off at his mother's, to spend time with his son over the holidays and tell him of what had transpired. The former returned to Boot Hill, in order to see his own family during this time.

When he came in, Virginia ran to the door screaming, "Daddy's home! Now we can have a real celebration. Mommy! Uncle Tesla! Aunt Shalte! Daddy came back!" She jumped into his arms, and he gave her a big hug. This made everything worth it, to know his child was ok even though he had been gone.

Ekatrina walked into the room, and smiled. "I had a feeling that you would come home. I guess I wished hard enough for it to happen, and it did. So, you're not too late for dinner, and Shalte and I worked hard on this. Eat something, and tell us about what happened to you at the lab." Of course, she knew about the rampaging monster, but she had to make it sound like she and Virginia had stayed at home.

"Daddy, I've got something for you," stated Virginia, "I'll go to my room and get it." She ran right up the stairs, returning a few minutes later. When she did come back, there was a small wrapped gift in her hands. The child handed it to her father, so he could open it. As he did so, she smiled just like her mom.

Inside, Werner found a hand made clay sculpture of a man and a child. They appeared to be of him and Virginia, but as it was only a child's work the forms weren't perfect. Not that it bothered Werner one little bit. After all, his daughter made it just for him. So he took her in his arms, and whispered, "You are the greatest gift of all Virginia. One day, I promise I'll make sure all of your dreams come true."

- - - -

****

Sky's Corner

Sappy, I know. It's called "Getting Brownie Points With Your Partner". Teefa loves fluffy stuff. Besides, what would a Wild ARMs 3 story written by Teefa85 Productions be without mention of their "Ginny is descended of Cecilia and has mastery over the long lost arts, which is why she's such a good sorceress" theory. And I finally found the little weasel. She ran off to the Guardian World from Shamanic Princess with Lufia.


End file.
